Armored core 3: Artificial sky COMPLEATE
by CrimsonAntares
Summary: the compleated version.


**Armored Core 3: Artificial Sky**

**Time start: beginning of Armored Core 3.**

**Book 1**

**Prologue: **

Earth year 223. In the wake of the final war known as "the great destruction", the Earths surface becomes uninhabitable. Mankind had no other alternative, then to dwell underground in a massive hive known as "layered".

One entity ruled the world, it was simply called… "The controller". The control handled the major decisions of human life. Under the rule of the controlled people lived safe yet uninspired lives of a promised prosperity. As time went on, "corporations" were formed… employing the use of mechanized combat… Each of them fighting desperately for absolute control.

The controller took advantage, and even manipulated the corporation's war… All was going according to the controllers plans…

**Chapter 1: Unlikely alliance. **

"Captain, the mission will start soon." A voice said over the radio. The bulky deep red MT stepped forward a few paces correcting his position and forming up with the rest of his unit. "I copy that. Units 3 and 4, go around back. Me and corporal Frachete will take front. We want to surround the Crest AC. Activate radar jamming extensions." Said the Captain.

The 4 MT's obediently lumbered into their ordered positions, carefully watching the surrounding trees trying not to disturb them. This was difficult in a dense forest. Their guns were readied. When a Beeping sound was heard by the Captain, the information was stated. "I see the Crest AC on radar now, heading our direction, 326Kph. He'll be here in approximately 30 seconds."

"This is AC EGOM, distance to objective is 2 Kilometers, and Approaching estimated target location… "Stated Delpheus. "Roger. Raven, continue course." Replied the reassuring female voice of the operator. "Wait a minute… im getting a…" before Delpheus could finish, a shell whizzed by the ACs head. The AC deactivated its boosters, landed itself on the ground and steadied itself. As is in one motion, as it was landing it raised it Karasawa Energy cannon and fired into a random position as if a warning.

The AC desperately scanned the area, but despite his efforts… the location of the enemy was still not revealed. Its head swiveled back and forth… then suddenly to the ACs side, there was a flash followed by a shell, which smacked straight into the ACs side. The AC stumbled, and easily recovered, the damage was minor. Delpheus in a rage charged to the area the shell came from. The MT in surprise jolted back firing its integrated machine guns, which harmlessly bounced off the ACs thick armor.

"Holy shit! CAAPTA-static" the AC pulled the bright blue Moonlight blade through the MTs cockpit, and quickly searched for another target… "Damnit! We lost unit 3! Call in for support!" cried one of the units in a panic. "Kisaragi lacks the funds for much support! And we can't call on our Allie Mirage! They're tied up with Crest in sector 194! You knew this was a solo mission!" yelled the captain. "Captain! He found my position! cannon blasts are heard, followed by the ignition of a blade…. And then static" cried unit 2.

"This guys to good! We have to retreat! We lost the element of surprise!" panicked unit 4. "Because of this unit's incompetence! FALL BACK!" spat the captain.

The AC lowered its weapons and watched the other 2 units boost away. "Raven! What are you doing?" wondered the operator. "Don't think im not going after them because im a nice guy…" Delpheus frowned at his energy meter, which was blood red. "I ran out of energy, with my energy based AC… how careless of me…" and then started laughing to himself.

"What went wrong? Why isn't that AC dead!" questioned one of the Kisaragi officers. "Sir, we lost our element of surprise. I feel my unit was incompetent, and wasn't suited

For a mission involving a raven of any sort. This lead to the death of Corporal Reiken and Private Tyvoka. I have never lost 2 special units so fast…" stated Captain Tronov. "Fill out a detailed report of the situations and I will examine it. As for now, your command is relieved, and as for you private, you will be transferred to another unit. You're both dismissed" Answered the officer.

The soldiers salute obediently and formally walk out. As they exit the door, Tronov grabs his soldier by the collar. "You lost my command, and not only that… but you would rather cry about support then help out your team! And you killed 2 good soldiers! If it were up to me, you would be discharged…" after that was said, Tronov practically threw the soldier against the wall, and he walked off…

Sparks drifted down from the damaged AC as it was being repaired from minor blast damage. Delpheus sat, watching. "Delpheus, you drained your generator in that battle… with this design that's near impossible… what went wrong?" said the operator.

"I don't know… I slipped... but luckily they retreated… but I'd like to install a more powerful generator… would that exceed our weight limit?" said Delpheus. "Yes it would… you just need to learn to cope with your limitations… you have to use the generator already installed…" replied the operator. "I'll try to be more careful next time…" mumbled Delpheus, and nearly butting into delpheus sentence the operator was reminded. "Speaking of which, a new mission offer came in, I think you should accept. It's from Kisaragi…"

As the sun started to rise, an AC appeared on the horizon… its red color shined even redder in the morning sun. as it lumbered into the Kisaragi base, the entire base seemed to stop what it was doing and watched the AC come in… they knew that Kisaragi was under budget and under equip… they can never hire ravens practically, so when they saw a raven they knew it must be important. Just as the AC stopped, Tronov looked up… he dropped everything he was holding… "That's…. that's … the AC" stuttered Tronov…

**Chapter 2: Intentions of revenge.**

"Raven, you have been called here today because of a recent attack in sector 59. We don't know who attacked us… but it was an unknown force. Neither crest… nor the union… or dove… One of our specialists has classified the units as MT-X03C's… these were MTs developed by the controller… your mission is to investigate the sector and determine the attackers… we have reason to think that the controller is responsible however unlikely this sounds… you have permission to fire back." Informed one of the Kisaragi officers.

"The controller? That's impossible… it has to be the union… or terrorists… who ever it was, I accept your mission." Agreed Delpheus. Delpheus left the room, and pulled out a small device and put it up to his ear. "Operator. Mission accepted. Sector 59 investigation. Transmitting details now. presses button." "Received…" stated the operator.

Tronov burst into the briefing room. "Where's that raven?" "The raven we just assigned to sector 59?" questioned on of the officers. "You can't be serious! That's the same raven that killed 2 of our pilots! Just yesterday!" argued Tronov. "Understand that the ravens are an impartial 3rd party organization controlled, and under direct responsibility of global cortex... You can't expect me to not hire one of the best ranked ravens for a mission of this importance. I understand that he killed some of our men, this pains me too… however, and we can use him for our purposes..." said an officer. "You sicken me… why not use one of our kisiragi affiliated ravens… or Mirage!" spat Tronov.

"Mirage can not support us now! You know this! They're taking care of Crest in sector 194. If they turn away they will be overrun, as well as us! And for your information Captain… our 3 ravens were killed. In the same sector we sent Delpheus… if anything this is a suicide mission, with your attitude, you should be grateful!"

"If that's the case, then I understand. However, I would rather directly kill him myself!" said Tronov. "Don't you dare! If you do, you compromise the mission, and enrage Global cortex! You wouldn't want that.. they are strict about their ravens…" warned an officer…

Tronov glared at the crimson AC as it was being lifted onto an air transport. He couldn't bare the death of 2 of his men, knowing that the killer still lived… and this AC didn't just kill 2 of his men… it caused many more deaths… and worse yet, employed by his own organization. He looked at the air transport preparing for takeoff, then at a MT (with flight capability)… then back at the air transport… he knew the consequences of the crime he was about to commit…

The transports engines ignited, and ascended into the sky… embedded within, the crimson AC EGOM…

"Hey! Stop! What are you doing with my MT?" yelled a pilot. A bizarre looking aerial MT ascended as well, following behind the transport.

"I wasn't told there would be an escort… flips on a radio switch this is to allied MT, what are you doing?" questioned the transport pilot. "This is escort one… I will be accompanying you on this flight" smirked Tronov…

**Chapter 3: The Controllers great destruction.**

"We are approaching the drop zone, raven... prepare for release." Said the pilot "copy that…" said Delpheus.. The hanger doors opened revealing a vast desert…. "Releasing." Stated the pilot…

The AC sprung free of the transport, and descended into the sand. The AC landed, shooting up a cloud of dust and sand. The transport flew away into the distance, however… the escort circled around…. Delpheus didn't notice, when the AC's head raised, and the dust cleared he saw the destruction……

A decimated land battle ship laid torn open… and on its hull, an insignia…. "AVALON"… Delpheus looked around the area…. He saw MT's, tanks, and Massive command ships utterly wrecked… and hundreds of bloody corpses… all bearing the insignia "KISARAGI"... and a few "AVALON"…

Delpheus could only stare at the destruction… "my god…"…. His AC staggered around the wrecks, searching… though he knew not for what… his gaze drifted up to a fortress looking structure... billowing smoke and cluttered with wreckage… and on the face of the building... "KISARAGI"…

Suddenly a beam of red plasma struck the AC in the back, searing a hole in the back… however the AC turned quickly, raised its gun and searched for the target…

"Raven… ive been stalking you for some time… "Taunted Tronov… "Who the hell are you?" said Delpheus still searching…

"I am the Avenger of my fallen comrades... " said Tronov, firing off another round… however, the AC dodges in time for it to hit the sand, shooting up a cloud of dust and sand. Delpheus returns fire and misses horridly… "Avenger or what?" said Delpheus firing off 2 more shots…. "I was there… the day you killed my team… the Kisaragi ambush… and the day you destroyed my forces… tell me, is this form of government just? As a Raven you are immune to all factions… under the control of the all powerfull Global cortex…" said Tronov...

"What the hell are you talking about? A Raven is a merce-""it infuriates me knowing that Kisaragi employed you… the death of our elites is admirable, however working with the enemy that killed them is unbearable… I hate all Ravens… you serve an organization, only to kill them in the end… what a dishonorable way to live…"…

Tronov fires once again… taking the AC's head clean off… "Son of a-"just then another shot was fired into the torso… creating a blacked and twisted battle scar…

"main sensors not detected, check to see if they are wired correctly" stated the computer.

"Emergency optics!" yelled Delpheus… his screen came back to life… the first image Delpheus sees is the barrel of a gun…. And in a split second reaction, activates his beam, and slices the charging barrel sealing it shut... the MT extends a parrying blade and forces it into the left arm joint. Disabling its left arm… the AC boosts back, bringing its Karawasawa to bear, only to be punctured by the blade.

The MT charges forward knocking the AC down and the MT on top of it… and as if it was in one movement, the parrying blade is positioned directly for the cockpit while holding down the one operational arm… time seems to stop….

Delpheus is powerless to stop his inevitable death…but just then he realizes…

The AC leans up giving just enough room for the rear machine gun to flip up, kicking up sand… and he releases a hail of fire, aimed directly into the MT's cockpit... after what seems like an eternity…

The machine gun silences… and the MT fell to the ground…

**Chapter 4: The Controller becomes the Destroyer…**

Smoke rose from the barrel of the machine gun… as it did from the holes in the MT… the AC stood staring (headlessly)… the AC turned… and walked away into the Kisaragi fortress… he examined the area into the entrance… and something caught his eye… he took a few more steps forward….

The moment the AC halted, 6 tall, blue, curved, menacing looking MT's seemed to fold out of position, lower their "arm guns", and rotate their heads and weapons to face the red AC… "Holy shit…." And in that same instant, 12 streams of laser gun fire are unloaded on his position….

Taking several hits, EGOM desperately boots to the side, and the perfectly coordinated MTs pivot their weapons weapons to follow… Delpheus stops behind a wrecked battle ship. The very second the AC goes behind the wreck… the MTs fold up into a flight position, and fly at the wreck…

As they pass over, the awaiting Delpheus unleashes bullets on one of them. The MT spirals out of control, slamming into the sand. The remaining 5 begin to come around, straightening out and leveling, as if preparing to fire. "Shit…" Delpheus folds his gun back, and boosts full speed to the side as 5 missiles streak toward him. Luckily he was close enough to the wreck for the missiles to smack into it.

One of the MTs lands near Delpheus… He grabs his left arm with his right, and activates the blade… the blade sputters and flashes… but Delpheus charges forward yelling… using his right arm, he places his left so that the blade stabs right into the MTs "face"… it falls lifeless…

The remaining 4 line up in front of him… Delpheus gets a panicked look on his face, but the something comes over him… he glares at the MTs… "Im gona go down firing… if Im going to die… im gona die killing you bastards!" time seems to slow once more…

the end of his gatling machinegun lights up… and a stream of bullets, poorly aimed, whiz at the 4 MTs, pounding into them… one is knocked over smoking… the half still alive unleash their streams of death… just then his gun runs out of ammo…

but just then, as if some kind of miracle..

"Raven! Do you copy? Were right above you! Stand still!" said a voice. "What?"… Just then a twin rotary helicopter latches onto the AC, and lifts it to safety… "Wait! These things can fly!" warns Delpheus. "It's all taken care of…" states the pilot... "Fire the PTND"... "Roger"…

A black shape came from the sky… and hit directly in front of the MTs that were folding into flight mode… all of them were incinerated in the following explosion… "Brace for shockwave"… the helicopter rocked back and forth, but then regained control. "What the hell was that?" yelled Delpheus.

"Precision tactical nuclear device… a new Crest weapon…"... "…wait a minute... your not Kisaragi? your Crest?" asked Delpheus. "Kisaragi knew the controller occupied this area…" .. "..The controller? I don't believe you… there's no way this could be the controller. H-"…

"The controller is the only one with MT-X03Cs… no one knows why yet... But the controller is attacking us at random… and there's no way we can stand up to its technology… the controller has obviously labeled humans for elimination…" stated the pilot…

"This cant be… there's just no possible way."… "You saw for yourself... Im not wrong… Crest is the controller's most loyal corporation… and yet we have been attacked as well… even though Crest doesn't want to admit it… they're covering it up… claiming its Mirage… they don't want to admit the doom of humanity…"

**Chapter 5: Redesign. The birth of the "Jupiter".**

Delpheus steps out of his lifeless AC that lies dead on the air strip. To its side is the Crest airship, whose pilot helpfully brought him back to his "garage". Delpheus walks into the vast open hanger, and waves to his operator. "…where's your AC?"… Delpheus points to limp pile of wreckage that's barely salvageable.

"Yeeeah, im gona need a new AC here fast… Crest didn't bring me back for free. They hired me for another mission…" said delpheus. "Alright then… I'll see what we can use from your old AC… we might have to order some Mirage parts, I can get some here faster then ordering replacement crest parts…" said the operator.

"Alright. What I want you to do is base it around solid ammunition this time… get an MG-800, HZL-50, and im gona need some missiles… put in an order for some CWX-DM-32-1s… as for the frame, design it anyway you feel like, and that's within our budget……. Think we can afford all this?" asked delpheus. "Kisaragi has been notified of your survival. They just sent payment, so im sure we have enough." Answered the operator.

"Wait a minute… notified of my survival? You make it sound like it was a suicide mission…" said deplheus. "It was…" said the operator. "So they were trying to get me back for the incident in the forest… I can't believe it… to prevent confrontation with global cortex they employed me for a suicide mission…" Delpheus said…

Delpheus walks off… pondering to himself.

Several days later… Delpheus steps into the garage.

"Wow... that's it?.. It looks fearsome. Heh, I like it" approved Delpheus. "We used the M1/008 core, its mirages latest model… its overboost is a bit faster, and lasts longer then the original. We also equipted you with a cooler radiator, more powerful boosters, and your weapons requested. This is by far the finest AC that DD has ever produced, be careful not to bash this one up to badly….it is the EGOM-06S2" Said the operator. "No, I think I'll name this one "JUPITER"… it fits the colors…" said Delpheus.

"Very well then… it will be called "the Jupiter""….

"Prepare for launch!" shouted someone as a warning.. The massive carrier aircraft moved into a launching position. "Commencing operation…. Launching" the aircraft ignited its engines, and ascended into the sky…

"How long till we arrive at the drop point?" asked delpheus… "1 hour, just sit back and be patient." Answered the pilot.

A Kisaragi officer walked up to the desk of a Kisaragi general… "sir, the operation succeded… we have confirmation… the scans from our insurgent indicate that the MTs encountered were infact… the controller forces…" said a Kisaragi officer in a concerned tone… the Kisaragi general looked up and remained silent for a short time, wondering to himself if what was said was indeed true…finally when it dawned on him that it was the inevitable truth, quietly he simply said…

"…god help us…"

The desert blazed with heat… the lifeless MTs paint began to peal and weather away due to the blowing harsh sand… half buried, shattered, and riddled with bullet holes…. The bright sun blazed through into the cockpit through the holes...

However something in the pattern of the bullet holes didn't seem quite right…

Few were directly in the center of the cockpit…

The pilot seat was left empty, only with few patches of dried blood…

**Chapter 6: Sting of the brute, the "Hornet"**

"raven… im gona go over the mission one more time… be sure to take out the unknown AC quickly, theres not much time before it reaches one of crests major citys… we don't know why its going so slow, but we cant ignore the imminent threat." Stated the pilot. "I copy that." Replied delpheus…

"Im releasing final locks, good luck raven…"

The sleek and stylish AC gracefully descended, boosting around... obviously playing with his new abilities… and then suddenly came the hard dirt, where it landed perfectly. Its head rose up, scanning the area. There was a sudden beep, warning the pilot. Delpheus sat up closer to the main viewing screen where a red box had appeared around a shape… the camera zoomed in to reveal that it was in fact, the target…

The AC trudged along, carrying a heavy bazooka in one arm that was being dragged along the ground carelessly. In the left, there was a strange looking device attached… it appeared to be an energy shield. On its back was a large, long cannon. By the looks, it was ment to do some serious damage. The AC in general was a mid weight crossed with a heavy… and it didn't look very happy…

"Operator, target has been sighted… that's defiantly our guy… hes heading at a speed of about 20KPH… do you think hes damaged?" asked Delpheus. "The scan report is coming in now… he doesn't appear to be damaged at all… approach with caution." Stated the operator. "Alright… im proceeding."…

The Crest commander was watching the units form up just as someone stepped in the room… "Sir, our final defense line is standing by. We couldn't assemble much, due to the war in sector 194… all we have is exactly… this is…not much at all… it says here looks at paper 21 helicopter units, 25 tanks, 19 heavy MTs, 22 light MTs… and our final defense cannons are operational..

Should our raven fail, we will not be able to stand against an AC of that power… we would deploy our crest ACs… however… the one raven stationed here died of a heart attack last night… the rest are in sector 194 and their ETA would be 4 days…" stated a crest soldier.

"This is all we have to stand against it?... then our best hope.. Is to put all our faith… in that raven…" replied the crest commander…

The commander simply sat down in his large leather chair… he let out a sigh and stared blankly at the wall as the soldier left the room…

He leaned forward and said to himself… "The hope of this corporation's survival… is in the hands of a mercenary… "

The Jupiter approached the target on foot… he was playing to cool… the only thing flowing through his mind was the inevitable battle about to take place… on the horizon; he could see the towers of the crest fortress city. He knew he had to act now…

The very same moment he decided to make his move, the AI AC in a split second move suddenly halted, and turned its head to quickly fix its menacing stare. This action startled delpheus so much that he froze. He didn't know why he stopped, he knew what he was going to do… but he hesitated…

The AC turned its body to face the potential threat; still menacingly glaring… delpheus could only stare back…

At the same instant, both ACs acted…

The Jupiter's machine gun was raised, and in the same motion began to fire. The AI AC's energy shield was activated as its bazooka was raised. The Jupiter boost strafed to the left to get a clear shot away from the energy shield, also in avoidance of the oncoming retaliation. The AI AC however, turned out to be more maneuverable the expected…. it quickly turned and fired a shell directly in the center of the ACs torso, throwing the AC completely off balance.

"God damnit!", he raised his howitzer, but as he fired the AC boosted into the air, and landed behind him. "SHIT!"… delpheus spun around… the AI already had a perfect lock, and fired… delpehus attempted to dodge, however, not completely… the right arm was hit… it remained limp, causeing him to drop his machine gun…

The AI calculated that this was the moment it would dominate…

He kicked the Jupiter down, and lowered its back cannon, which was already charging up for the killing blow…

Suddenly there was a yellow flash. The tip of the AIs cannon was cut clean off… it clanked to the ground. And in surprise, both the Jupiter and the AI turned their heads to where the blast came from…

Standing atop a hill, was a black and yellow heavy weight AC, with a fearsome array of weapons. Its glowing eye fixed itself on the AI AC, and it lowered its rear grenade launcher while going into a kneeling position.

There was a blast that kicked up a lot of dirt, right where the AI AC was standing, but the AI quickly reacted by boosting away. The Jupiter stood up, and delpheus said "who the hell are you?". "Im Jason Western, and Im the guy that just saved your ass! Just call me cougar, but right now WORRY ABOUT THE AC!" yelled cougar.

The AI blasted a round at the Black and yellow AC. The shot hit it, but it recovered as if it was nothing, and it raised it machine gun to return fire. While that was happening, the Jupiter activated its missile launcher… as the Black and yellow AC released a hail of bullets, 6 missiles closed in on the AI AC.

The AI could not calculate a way to prevent damage, or what to do in this situation… it would inevitably take damage, or even cease to function… all it could do was deploy its energy shield.

There were a series of explosions, and the sound of metal ripping through metal…

Smoke rose from the remains of the AI AC… it sparked and sputtered, and its eye's glow faded…

It was dead.

"You saved my ass back there..." said delpheus. "I was hired to" "by whom?" "That doesn't matter" "…ok… and if you don't mind me asking… what is your ACs name? Ive never seen it in the arena rankings..."

"It's simply called… the Hornet."

**Chapter 7: Seed of the demons past **

Sector 194… a desert waste similar to that of the battlefield left by the controller…

In this sector however… the controller has no interest… why attack, when the humans will cause there own destruction? The primal human instinct to fight one another was strong.

For ages of human existence, there have always been wars and death caused themselves. The war that caused the great destruction nearly wiped humanity from all existence, and if the controller's plans succeeded… there would be a second great destruction….

"Sir, we have Kisaragi re-enforcements coming! They're finally here! Look!" shouted a mirage soldier. In the distance several MTs, tanks, and other weapons of war approached the Mirage front line. In front was a tall, powerful looking MT.

"I am lieutenant Tronov… the commanding officer… we are here to support you."

"We think that Crest will attack soon, hurry up and get prepared" said a Mirage officer.

The Kisaragi units positioned themselves along side their Mirage brothers…

Just then, on the horizon… a figure could be seen. It was tall, An AC…… a red AC…

"THEY SENT AN AC!" screamed a mirage soldier in panic.

Tronov's memories haunted him as he sat inside a sandy, broken down shelter he found while walking in the harsh desert. He bandaged his leg, arm, and other wounds… crusted with blood and caked with sand… the pain was immense... tronov stared off into space, as the voices from long ago still echoed in his head…

"FIRE FIRE! GAHK-static" "FALL BACK!"

Tronov couldn't help but remember these painful images… this sector… this battle field... it was horribly familiar to sector 194….

Streams of purple energy erupted into the ranks of the MTs… followed by more screaming… the MTs fired desperately into the AC, every shot doing little to no damage. There was a red flash of light, and 2 MTs fell to pieces. Then then energy blade was stabbed in a 3rd…

Tronovs MT fell to the ground… there was a searing hole right above the cockpit, but Tronov was spared… was this.. Intentional? ..Was it ment for the cockpit, but missed?

After more destruction, the MTs that remained ran… they ran as hard as their MTs could go back to the rear lines to meet up with their remaining force, and to report what happened… and of course save their lives…

Tronovs monitor was still operational…

Tronov remembered the scene perfectly… how could he forget….

He saw the crimson harbringer of destruction standing silent among the countless bodies of dead MTs… with dead pilots inside. Flames engulfed the area surrounding this bringer of death forming a demon scene. The AC embraced the death is caused.

However… the rest of the scene remained un-heard by tronov… within the core of the nameless death bringer, sat the pilot… she laughed aloud, only heard by herself. This destruction was a trophy of her power, and she took some time to praise it. When she felt confident, the AC turned back in the direction where I came, and walked away from its scene of death.

Tronov sat holding his head, sweating from both the heat, and painful memories…

"That red AC…."

Tronov looked to his side, and noticed a Blue aerial looking AC… however It looked dead… but he looked beyond it to see a ruined fortress… perhaps there would be a form of transportation there…

Tronov walked past the destroyed MTs… more of his memories flashed in his mind for each one… the smoke… the flames… the destruction. he walked along until he came up to the fortress… he saw a small access panel with sand in-between the buttons jamming it… however… the large entrance way opened… as if it was ment for him to come in…

The vast opening revealed mutilated and destroyed Kisaragi bodies… and of course the structure overall was broken and destroyed… tronov entered… looking for something to get him back to Kisaragi base..or somewhere… anywhere but here.

As he proceeded… there appeared to be another rather large door… it opened as well.

"Enter" a computer voice said.

Tronov looked startled… but he dare not disobey. He continued… and it became very clear what he was being lead to…

Against the wall, there were pipes, and cords connecting to a tall dark shape…Tronov immediately recognized what it was…

It was an AC… an AC like nothing seen before…

**End of Book 1.**


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